Workers tend to a well head during a hydraulic fracturing operation at an Encana Oil & Gas Inc. gas well outside Rifle, in western Colorado. The West is currently brimming with energy potential, writes Timothy Considine. (Brennan Linsley, AP file)

With the government shutdown over, the national parks and other federal lands are once again open for business. But for the natural resources sitting on those lands, it’s another story entirely.

The federal government has severely delayed or restricted investment and development on the land they own, which accounts for just under 50 percent of the seven-state Rocky Mountain region. The result has been lost opportunities and missed economic growth — especially in the area of energy output.

The region is currently brimming with energy potential. Under the status quo, the seven Rocky Mountain states are already a powerhouse of energy production. The states account for more than half of the country’s coal output and currently produce 1.2 million barrels of crude oil and other liquid fuels per day.

But consider what little land these states are working with. In Nevada, the federal government owns 84.5 percent of the state, restricting energy exploration and development to the sliver of the land that remains in the state’s control. It’s a similar story in Idaho, where the feds own 50.2 percent; in Arizona, where 48.1 of the state is under federal control; and in Colorado, where 36.6 percent of the state is owned and operated from Washington, D.C.

The first measure of untapped economic potential is to compare the rate at which energy production has grown on private lands versus federal lands. Unsurprisingly, private development far outpaces development on federal lands. Since 2009, crude oil output on private land has increased by 28 percent; on federal lands, it’s only increased by half as much. For natural gas and natural gas liquids, private production has increased by 0.9 percent, compared to a 5.4 decline on federal lands.

But if the output on federal lands had matched that on private property, the economic benefits would have been significant. I estimate that over the next decade, the region’s seven states — Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada, and Idaho — would gain between $9.5 billion and $26 billion in annual gross regional product, between $2.4 billion and $5.1 billion in annual tax revenue, and between 67,000 and 208,000 regional jobs.

Comparing these numbers to the resource growth potential in renewables makes it clear that there’s no comparison. Even the best possible scenario would only see 20,000 annual jobs created for renewable resource development — less than one-tenth of the benefit from traditional energy sources.

Unfortunately, federal inaction on regulations regarding the use of new extraction technologies — hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling chief among them — has handicapped the Rocky Mountain region’s economic growth. This problem can be remedied by returning control of federal lands to their respective states. To this end, Utah recently passed the Transfer of Public Lands Act, which requires the federal government to relinquish its title to the 57.4 percent of the state that it owns. Other states are considering similar measures.

If this happens, then those same states can take proactive steps to grow their economies. Western states have proven to be good stewards of their lands, so this need not come at the expense of the environment.

Without that power, they’ll only be able to wonder what could have been — and be reminded of it every time they set foot on federally owned land.

Timothy Considine is director of the Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy at the University of Wyoming.